In fact, when âfactsâ get in the way of a story, I get annoyed. All narratives are fiction that simply use facts. Things like âthe clock indicates itâs 3 p.m.â are facts, but what is made of that 3 p.m. is fiction. Some will call it late, others will call it early, others will say theyâre âneutralâ and therefore itâs neither.
What I want is the truth and not the facts. Facts are just convenient tools. Either I can pay attention to it being 11 p.m. and it being late, or I can pay attention to the fact that the sun will rise again tomorrow, therefore in the grand scheme of things, Iâm never late. I can remember and recount and regurgitate every single âfailureâ in my life and pretend like thatâs some grand grown-up worldview, or I can admit that, actually, continuing to attribute reality to undesired imaginary past events (a.k.a. âmemoryâ) and acting as if thatâs humble or good is delusional, and frankly, a bit pathetic. Itâs almost better to have amnesia than to drag around the past and act like a hero, because the past doesnât exist. Facts exist in the moment and thatâs it.
I have the ending. I just gotta write it.
Iâm also tentatively entertaining ideas for the next novel. Two broad directions I want to take (not necessarily both in the next novel, but in the near future):
- Write something ânon-speculativeâ: because ârealityâ is âmiraculousâ when you let it be. And when miracles become everyday life, speculation isnât so speculative anymore. As in, there is no point in the distinction of speculative versus non-speculative, really; I just use them because retailers demand that books be categorized in some fashion. As if thatâs how people actually read. Seriously. If labels like âhorrorâ or âSFâ or âliteraryâ had helped me find stories I like, I wouldnât be so cranky.
- Solve the multiple POV âproblemâ: much of Wynn Ray relies on the fact that interior reality shapes the world. This is very easy with a one-POV-character book. But with multiple-POV characters? Not so easy. I mean, I could âjust write.â It is very possible to write a book without reconciling worldviews. The story might even be great. But I just donât feel like approaching it that way. I want to write dual POV, but dual POV has to make sense to me. Not just plot wise. Existence wise.
I think the next novel will be single-POV for now, but maybe with an interesting twist. For example, Iâm considering the âobserverâ protagonist. As in, this personâs main narrative is about observing another character.
Two motifs that Iâm entertaining right now:
- The hospice environment
- Finding a new species
I was considering a new species of dragonfly until moments ago. But I just found out that there is no dragonfly emoji on Apple. This is unacceptable.